StockNews.com Upgrades Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) to “Buy”

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Stock Performance

PEBK stock traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $28.40. 7,780 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,216. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina has a 1-year low of $16.35 and a 1-year high of $30.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $155.06 million, a P/E ratio of 9.69 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.89.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ:PEBK) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter. Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina had a net margin of 16.29% and a return on equity of 14.37%. The business had revenue of $19.40 million during the quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James S. Abernethy sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.50, for a total transaction of $73,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 83,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,050,797. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 16.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina stock. Gendell Jeffrey L raised its stake in Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBK) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 217,763 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,123 shares during the period. Gendell Jeffrey L owned about 3.90% of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina worth $4,790,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Institutional investors own 43.83% of the company’s stock.

About Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Peoples Bank that provides various banking products and services for individuals and small-to medium-sized businesses. It offers checking, savings, money market, and retirement accounts; certificates of deposits; and credit and debit cards.